


Echoes of the Past

by Living4LifesSake



Series: Lost In Love [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brotherly Love, Comfort/Angst, Friendship/Love, Gen, LawLu-Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:41:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28905027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Living4LifesSake/pseuds/Living4LifesSake
Summary: Luffy’s life can very neatly be divided into the time before he met Law and all the time afterwards that he had lived with Law- it’s the nicest way of putting that fateful day where he met his future husband the same day his older brother died. Sometimes he recalls the days before with fondness, other times it is a bitter reminder of what he has lost.—The story of how Luffy learns to live without Ace and discovers that even if someone is gone, it doesn’t mean that they’re lost.
Relationships: Koala/Sabo (One Piece), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: Lost In Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951006
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Echoes of the Past

**Author's Note:**

> The first few chapters are somewhat of a prequel to Part 2 and a few chapters in Part 1 but we're going to move on past that eventually- don't worry Law will make his appearance soon enough.  
> Content Warnings will be posted at the beginning of every chapter. 
> 
> Content Warnings: Minor depictions of violence

The world comes into a bleary focus as he wakes up, poking his head out from under the blankets. He can gauge by the angle of the sunlight streaming through the window and the fact that he is alone in the attic that he’s slept in later than he was supposed to. He scrambles to untangle himself from the nest of blankets, stumbling over the rough wood floor in his haste. 

He digs through a pile of laundry strewn on the floor to try and find something to wear. The shirts that Makino brought the last time she visited he outgrew during his last growth spurt so he’s stuck in one of Ace’s old t-shirts. He knots the fabric around itself so it doesn’t hang too long. Thankfully, his shorts still fit his hips, they’re just sitting above his knees now as opposed to their original length below them. He slips his feet into his sandals and shoves his hat onto his hair then he’s scurrying down the ladder, jumping down to the floor instead of using the last few rungs.

A few others are around, doing whatever bandits do during the days- he never really bothered to find out- and they look at him amused at his haste. He flashes them a smile, heading over to the cabinets; he’s in a rush but not enough that he’s willing to skip breakfast. There’s not much to eat, there never is with so many people living in one place and no fridge to speak of so they have to rely on non-perishables and whatever else fresh that they can scavenge. He fishes out an apple from one of the crates and gets a wedge of hard cheese to munch on as he heads outside. 

He grins at the world and it greets him back sunnily. 

It’s mid-autumn where the mornings and nights are cooler yet the days are still warm enough that they don’t need jackets while the sun still shines. He takes a moment to appreciate the day as the breeze caresses his cheeks, the sweet smell of the late blooming flowers fills his nose, the grass tickles the exposed sides of his feet. This has been his home for five years now, these mountains have become his safety, the meadows are his playground, the creeks and the forest are his providers. He takes a step towards the awaiting forest and gets yanked right back. 

He screeches around a mouthful of cheese, twisting and turning in the grip of his captor, “Dadan! Put me down!” 

The red-headed woman tuts, tucking him flat under her arm as she carries him back inside, “You were about to go without brushing your hair, you know the rules.”

Luffy groans, still struggling to try and break free, “I gotta go! My hair is clean, I took a bath last night!”

“Then you went to bed with it wet so it’s a tangled mess.” Dadan shoots back, pinning him to her side so he can’t squirm away. Dogra laughs outright at their bickering as he hands Dadan the brush, the traitor. 

She moves his straw hat aside to start brushing through his dark hair, attempting to work it into something that doesn't resemble a bird’s nest. He could probably break free if he really tried but she’d chase him back down anyway, besides he hasn’t finished eating his breakfast so he can take the time to do that. 

Pochi comes over to sniff at his hands curiously, intrigued by the food Luffy has. He takes a bite of his apple and spits out the piece for the Shiba to eat because the dog has started to let Luffy cuddle with him when it’s cold and he feels like the behavior has to be rewarded somehow.

“Don’t spit on the floor.” Dadan scolds though she’s smiling around her cigarette. She seems to have gotten out all the tangles because the brush moves smoothly through his hair during the small strokes. 

She is satisfied eventually, relaxing her grip to allow him to drop back to the floor. He bolts for the curtains that act as a door during the warmer months, “Thanks! Bye!”

“Don’t come back, you brat!” She snaps after him as he passes their old fort, heading into the forest, before adding, “Dinner’s at sunset.”

To make up for lost time, he chooses the faster option of transportation, taking his sandals off and shoving one into a pocket each. He quickly scales one of the large trees, getting up the trunk to the protruding branches. Almost all the trees in the forest are huge, way older than Luffy, most even older than his grandpa. Being so old, their limbs are thick and strong enough to hold his weight easily. He carefully makes his way to one of the beaches closest to the nearest tree, tensing his muscles near the edge of the limb, curling his bare toes into the weathered bark. 

He breathes in, wipes his palms on his shorts so they’re not sweaty. He breathes out and leaps.

For a second, he’s weightless, caught in the space between the ground and the sky, there’s nothing around him except for air, cupping around his body as gravity begins to pull him down. 

His fingers curl around a branch of a different tree, allowing him to halt his fall as he catches himself. His palms and fingers are full of thick calluses developed by years of doing exactly this, his body conditioned to the sudden stopping and starting. He uses the momentum to swing himself forward, launching off of that branch and going straight for the next one. The forest canopy is full, there’s plenty of branches for him to use as leverage on his journey. Every now and then, he’ll stop on a branch, regain his footing and start the process again. 

Dadan and Makino both hate when he does this, they fear that he’ll fall and at this height he’ll definitely break something. He doesn’t let that kind of fear live in his mind because if you’re afraid, you’ll never have fun. Besides, it’s easy once you get the hang of the rhythm of the movements. It’s all about confidence, keeping your eyes on the next branch, moving as soon as you make a connection to not lose your momentum. 

They all tease him for living up to his surname but he doesn’t care. In moments like this, it’s like he can fly, crossing further spaces than his feet can carry him at a rapid pace. He heads towards the clearing where they usually fight, deeper into the forest close to where their old treehouse was, now outgrown by the three of them though still lovingly upkept. 

He can hear the clash of opposing metal as he gets closer along with excited shouts and bursts of laughter. He swings to another branch then begins to make his way down the forest floor. He takes a moment to put his sandals back on, walking forward into the clearing, coming upon his two older brothers.

Luffy doesn’t think there is anyone more wonderful than his brothers. At fifteen years old they are far taller than he is, proud and powerful with bodies that reflect their years of hard fighting, bright-eyed with wavy hair that shines in the sunlight like golden stalks of wheat and glossy strands of ebony silk. 

They’re both panting around wide grins, sparring each other like they have almost every day, several times a day in the past ten years. After fighting so often, it’s like they’re not even thinking any more as they read the telegraphing of movements in the other, anticipating moves several steps ahead and countering so it becomes less of a brawl and more of an elaborate routine. 

In the last two years they had finally switched to using weapons most times they spar, Sabo with his long pipe and Ace with a long thick dagger. He’s got a blade guard on the edge so that he doesn’t slice Sabo to pieces but he’s still striking with enough force to leave welts if he does get a hit in. They don’t get any strikes on each other’s bodies though, they’re weapons clash in parries and blocks, they dodge and dance around, searching for any type of opening that will lead to the battle’s conclusion, pulling out whatever tricks they can think of to trip up and surprise the other. 

Luffy sits cross legged in the grass a good distance away so he won’t bother them, watching as they exchange blows for at least five minutes. It’s a pretty even fight- though Sabo’s been trained by various instructors in the past few years, Ace is an intuitive fighter who learns with every blow he exchanges with his opponent- then in one move, Ace hooks the curve of his blade around the edge of Sabo’s pipe and yanks back so hard that both their weapons go flying out of their grasp. 

Luffy knows that it’s over then and Sabo knows it too. They may be equally matched when it comes to weapons but Ace has no equal when it comes to fighting bare handed. 

With a glimmer in his eyes, Ace pounces. Sabo tries to fend him off valiantly, and it’s not a one sided battle completely because Sabo’s just as strong and fast as Ace. Problem is, Ace has more endurance than both of them, he’ll take hit after hit yet still come back swinging just as hard until eventually his opponent wears themselves out but he’s going with the same intensity.

Sabo does a back handspring to get away from Ace for a moment, a calculating look crossing his face since he’s not inclined to take a beating so early in the morning. He feints left then darts to the right, crossing the clearing in a moment to pick a surprised Luffy up under the armpits, holding him out as a human shield. “Hey!”

Ace is scowling as he approaches, fists curled at his side, wary that it’s a ploy and Sabo’s going to abandon their baby brother and surge forward while he’s off-guard for an attack, “That’s cheating.”

Sabo shoots him a smug grin as they start to circle each other, “I thought we agreed there was no such thing as cheating.” He holds Luffy out further, teasing, “What are you going to do?”

Ace’s expression turns thunderous, “I should punch him with enough force that his hard head smacks you in the face.” That would be painful for both of them. Luffy’s head was famously hard, he’d broken plenty of noses with it before, including Ace and Sabo’s. 

Sabo doesn’t take the threat into any consideration, “But you won’t.”

He won’t and all three of them know it. With a growl of irritation, he lunged forward but it’s with half the speed and intensity he could normally do so they know his heart’s not in it. 

Sabo laughs, skirting away from Ace’s hands, cradling Luffy against one of his hips to have his other hand free to grab his bag and staff from the ground. He sets Luffy down, pushing him along into a run, and they both laughingly flee from Ace. 

They chase each other through the forest, though it turns more into play than anything else as they go along. They run free like they always do, delighting in being around each other and having nothing to worry about, the strongest and bravest souls on the mountain. At one point Ace side tackles Sabo who crashes into Luffy and they all go sprawling to the underbrush in a mess of limbs and laughter. 

They’re still giggling on top of one another when in the distance a bell tolls to proclaim the new hour. They can barely hear it so deep in the forest, unable to count its chimes but it is an indicator for Sabo to pull out his pocket watch and check for himself.

He sighs quietly, tucking the watch back in his pocket. He adjusts the strap of his bag on his shoulder and sets off to the west where civilization lies with Ace and Luffy following him.

They're reaching the outer Midway Forest when the foul smell starts to permeate the air. It doesn’t affect him as much as it used to when he first arrived but after the fresh mountain air it’s still putrid. It was too early for them to be trawling for people to attack for money yet the inhabitants of Gray Terminal cower away from them as they pass, frightened by the mere sight of the three of them from their infamous reputation. 

They slow down from a run when they reach the Great Gate, slipping into Edge Town to merge with the morning crowd. They make their way to the town center, the people and buildings getting more wealthy while the three of them look more out of place, all lean underneath their worn clothes, full of hard earned power that few adults could stand up to, much less cushy nobles. 

Ace has expressed many times that he won’t go further inward than the outskirts of the town center, stating that he wouldn’t be able to control himself from knocking the teeth in of one of the nobles if they crossed him meaning they cut into an alleyway instead of venturing deeper when they could.

Against a windowless stretch of wall, Sabo starts to rummage through his bag to pull out clothes to change into. Luffy and Ace stand to guard him as he strips down; Luffy turns so his back is facing Sabo, Ace doesn’t. 

Luffy fixes any passersby with his most impressive glare to ward them away from peeking at his older brother, arms crossed over his chest defensively. 

“I’ll be back on Thursday night.” Sabo informs as he changes, “They’re going to some stupid cocktail thing that’s adults only so I should be able to skip out as soon as my last lesson is over. You can turn around now, Luffy.” 

His noble born brother had changed into an outfit more befitting a person of his status, a white linen dress shirt with frilled cuffs, a lilac vest and sharply creased gray slacks tucked into his boots. He adjusts his ascot with a scowl, “Four o’clock, maybe three if I push it.”

Ace reaches out to smooth Sabo’s hair, tucking some blonde stands behind his ear, “No need to rush, we’ll be waiting."

Sabo’s blue eyes churn like the seas, raging with emotions, torn between wanting to stay with them and continuing on his mission. 

Five years ago, Sabo’s parents tried to steal him away again, threatening to kill Ace and Luffy if he didn’t comply. In desperation, he tried to escape the island by the sea only for his ship to be destroyed by explosions. There were a few horrible weeks that they thought he was dead, when Luffy cried all during his waking hours and could not be comforted while Ace had to be tied to a tree for days until he became too exhausted to execute his plans to lay waste to the city and people who killed his brother.

Sabo returned to them with severe burns that were mostly healed, surprisingly having been saved by none other than Luffy’s father who was the head of the revolutionaries attempting to overthrow the current system. Sabo had found a kindred spirit within their goal, having been disgusted by the noble society he had been born into and had arranged to become an informant for them. That meant that he would have to remain as a noble to be able to get the information needed. He had struck a deal with his parents in which he would study and do whatever they wished as long as he was able to spend time with Ace and Luffy. At first they hadn’t thought he was worth the trouble until the day that Sabo’s adopted brother mysteriously disappeared, leaving him as the sole heir once more. (Luffy wasn’t sure if it was Sabo himself who got rid of Sterry or maybe it was the revolutionaries who arranged for it to happen or it could have been Ace.)

For the past five years he had been living a double life, pretending to be a dutiful son from Tuesday mornings to Thursday evenings and being wild and free with Luffy and Ace in the long weekends, always bringing a change of clothes with him to wear when he reenters the life of nobility. Throughout it all, he sent reports to the revolutionaries and trained with them during the summer months. 

Despite parting every week, it never got easier for Ace and Luffy to let Sabo go. It wasn’t going to be forever though, Sabo was going to leave the nobility for good on his seventeenth birthday- staying any longer would mean he would be forced into an arranged marriage and no one wanted that so arrangements were being made for him to be brought to the mainland. 

At present, Sabo held out his pipe to Luffy, “Hold on to this for me, okay?” Luffy nodded, solemnly taking the pipe. Sabo pressed a kiss to the top of his head before he straightened up, looking at Ace. 

Ace leaned forward till their foreheads were touching, his intense eyes stormy at their impending separation. Sabo smiled gently, lips against a freckled cheek, all at once amused and worried and very fond, “I know it pointless to ask you to keep out of trouble but at least try to not start any fights.”

“You know I can’t promise that.” Ace murmured back, drawing away with a lazy smirk. Sabo rolled his eyes, hoisting his bag over his shoulder. 

He left the alley, his demeanor and posture changing into something that suits his clothing. While most elites look down on the world with their noses high in the air, Sabo had a way of looking at the world straight in the eye which made him seem inherently royal. He didn’t have to wear gaudy clothes or act like people were beneath him to assert his nobility, he simply was. 

He crosses through the town center easily, weaving amongst the crowds without a missed step in his stride, pauses to wink over his shoulder at them as he goes through the gilded gates into High Town and is gone.

Ace lets out a long sigh as if the loss of Sabo from his sight both pains and exhausts him, that forlorn look in his eyes which makes Luffy helpless but to jump onto his back playfully in hopes that it will make his big brother smile. It works a bit and Ace reaches behind to grab the pipe, freeing up Luffy’s hands to properly wrap around Ace’s neck, Luffy shifts so his legs are on either side of Ace’s hips, leaning his chin on his brother’s shoulder to peek at his face and make sure the sad look on his face is gone. 

Ace starts to head back to Edge Town, carrying Luffy on his back without complaint, “Wanna go beat someone up for lunch money? I’ve got a craving for curry bread.”

“Yay!”

—

Though he loves it infinitely more when all three of them are together, he and Ace had settled into a practiced routine during the stretches of time that Sabo is away. They spar in the mornings, Luffy tries not to take his five year long losing streak to heart because it always makes him a little despondent that he can never inch out a win no matter what he tries though he knows it’s the natural order of things that as the youngest he will never win. They either scrounge for food in the forest or find someone to prey upon to get their lunch. In the afternoons, Luffy has to do the school work that Sabo leaves out for him every week. He fumbles through different spelling exercises and tries to answer questions about reading comprehension while he lays in a patch of sunlight on the main floor, asking for help from someone passing by on a particularly hard word, getting distracted by watching spiders spinning webs in the corners of the walls. In the evenings, after they've fought for their dinner, he lays in the span of Ace’s arms, listening as his brother tells stories or sings songs quietly until he drifts to sleep. 

In this fashion, Thursday afternoon comes soon enough and they’re waiting eagerly for Sabo’s return at their designated meet up spot in Edge Town. 

When he appears, Sabo walks straight into Ace’s arms, burying his face in the crook of Ace’s neck with a rattling sigh. His voice is tight with fury and anguish, “I can’t stand them, I can’t stand it all, it makes me want to scream. Stupid, vapid, horrid people, they wouldn’t know sense unless it beat them half to death.”

Ace’s arms wrap around him like a shield, mumbling, “I’d volunteer for that job but someone would have to teach me some sense first.” 

That gets a soft chuckle from Sabo and he draws back, taking a deep breath, assuring himself as much as them, “It’s alright. I can bear it knowing that I’ll be able to come home to you two.” He opened an arm in invitation for Luffy to join them, squeezing him close. “There’s less days left than I’ve already lived so there’s no going back now.” 

That night by candlelight, Sabo is trying to get Ace to work through a trigonometry book that he had brought back which takes a lot of cajoling on Sabo’s part and a lot of complaining from Ace. Luffy’s already tucked into their nest of blankets, half-asleep as he listens to them. 

“See,” Sabo is patient as he explains, “Because ‘K’ in this problem is a coefficient of proportionality, then you work it from there and you get 4/5.” 

“I’m telling you, I’m not as smart as you.” Luffy can hear the frown in Ace’s voice, accompanied by the listless flipping of pages. 

“That’s not true,” Sabo argues gently “You can do anything you put your mind to. I’ve seen how fast you pick things up, you could do the same with this if you applied yourself.” 

“Then I’ll apply myself tomorrow.” Ace argues back, seemingly fed up with any more attempts of math this late at night. 

“Fine, but I’m not sparring with you until we do.” Ace groans quietly but they both start to settle down for the night, putting away their things, blowing out the candles. “I have to send out my quarterly report while I’m here so we need to head to Foosha.” 

Luffy perks up at that, they never talk about the revolutionary work when he’s around, listening quietly from under the blankets as Ace asks, “Are you sending it or handing it?”

“Handing.”

“Then that means someone from the army is going to be there to get it.”

“That is generally how a hand off works.”

Luffy squeezes his eyes shut when Ace pulls back some of the blankets to slip into, “Some strange revolutionary is going to be in the middle of a sleepy coastal village to take a letter that you’ve written which supposedly has confidential incriminating information. Have you met this person before, is it the same contact as last time? How will you know it’s them? You guys have some sort of code, a signal? Going to wear a rose in your lapel?” He jeers, making his words harsh to try and hide his concern.

Sabo joins him in their makeshift bed, on the opposite side of Luffy since he is always in the middle as the littlest, “I need you to trust me.” 

Ace huffs, pulling the blankets back up over him, “I do trust you. It’s everything else in this fucking world that I don’t trust.” 

“You don’t always have to be so guarded.” Sabo expressed, an emotion like grief susurrating through his voice.

Ace tucks the blankets tighter around Luffy then brushes a soothing hand down from his bangs to his cheek, “It’s how I’ve survived this long.” 

Sabo hums, “Sometimes you act like you’re doing yourself a favor by hiding yourself away from the world.”

Ace bristles, sitting upright as he snarls, “Hiding? Who’s hiding? I’m not hiding. I’ll fight anyone-”

“I know you will.” Sabo interrupts lightly, “But one day you’ll realize that you don’t have to all the time.”

Ace lays his head down, “That’ll be the day."

“Yes,” Sabo agrees, reaching over Luffy to take Ace’s hand, “It will.”

Luffy falls asleep with their arms around him, nestled between their warmth and the presence of their love. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work isn't going to be uploaded as frequently as my previous two since I'm still waiting for a few things in the manga to be revealed before I move to this work's completion which is why you'll see I haven't designated how long it'll be but Part 4 is coming on Monday January 25th and that will be updated weekly if you were looking for your LawLu fix. 
> 
> Thanks for all the support!


End file.
